Passage 61
学霸导读 长期处于舒适区会让我们止步不前，而迈出舒适区的第一步能帮助我们迎接一个更好的自己。
Is your comfort zone running your life？ When you get home after a long day， stressed， t 1 ， in need of some snacks， another look at your favorite TV series or other pleasures， it often appears in the form of cozy sofas or simply kitchen chairs. It will i 2 you into its depths of sweet procrastination （ 拖延 ）， of thinking little and doing less.
In fact， according to a recent survey of almost 2，000 young Chinese aged between 18 and 35， over half of the respondents （ 调查对象 ） a 3 they tended to stay in their comfort zone and did not want to leave it.
I totally understand that feeling. It is easier to just keep doing things that really make us c 4 . However, staying in your comfort zone might mean missing out on life-changing learning opportunities.
For example, I changed my major from Physics to Chinese in my second year at the University of Pennsylvania. I was choosing to do something I had never done b 5 . This decision put me miles outside of my comfort zone. It even put my family out of theirs. Studying Physics put me on a path to be an engineer, or possibly go to medical school, like the rest of my family. Me studying Chinese? I was about to become the odd one out in my family.
What would it mean if I hadn’t studied Chinese？ I wouldn’t have made as many friends. I wouldn’t have built a career in China. Most importantly， I wouldn’t have learned many of the things I know now， like how to read， w 6 ， speak and understand Chinese， how to travel light， how to negotiate big crowds， how to bargain （ 讨价还价 ）， or any of the o 7 skills necessary for living and thriving in China.
This isn’t anecdotal （ 道听途说的 ）—according to research from Yale University， if you are not outside your comfort zone， you are not learning. Not knowing what will h 8 next is stressful （ 有压力的 ）， but in a way that tells your brain to stay alert and start learning.
While you might follow a busy schedule and f ind it diff icult to identify opportunities to do something different， opportunities are all around you. Go f ind that classmate you have never talked to—at lunch time perhaps. Volunteer with a local organization that supports a good cause. Eat something different or watch that foreign TV show w 9 subtitles （ 字幕 ）. As soon as you step out of your comfort zone， you’ll realize that making the f irst uncomfortable step is w 10 we all need to do in order to become a better person.
1.__________2.__________3.__________4.__________5.__________
6.__________7.__________8.__________9.__________10.__________
高频词汇
tend to 趋向于……
odd /ɒd/ adj. 奇怪的，怪异的，反 常的
negotiate /nɪ'gəʊʃieɪt/ v. 协商，谈判
thrive /θraɪv/ v. 繁荣，蓬勃发展
alert /ə'lɜːt/ adj. 警惕的，警觉的